Top 1000 Songs #700-#691

#700 - "Smoke On The Water" - Deep Purple - Machine Head - The first and only Deep Purple song features the guitar riff so great that it's step one in learning to play the damn instrument and a funny story about a concert gone wrong.

#699 - "You Really Got Me" - Van Halen - Van Halen - The first and only VH song on the countdown, "Got Me" was a cover of the Kinks classic complete with Eddie Van Halen's insane guitar skills.

#698 - "When You Were Young" - The Killers - Sam's Town - The first of two Killers songs on the list, "When You Were Young" is the best song from the band's Springsteen-esque second album.

#697 - "Crooked Teeth" - Death Cab For Cutie - Plans - The first of three Death Cab songs on the countdown, "Crooked Teeth" has a great chorus and incredibly well-constructed lyrics, making it easily one of the best songs in emo.

#696 - "Space Lord" - Monster Magnet - Powertrip - The first of two Monster Magnet songs on the top 1000, "Space Lord" is one of the best metal songs of the 90's, with an over-the-top sound and awesome lyrics.

#695 - "Mama, I'm Coming Home" - Ozzy Osbourne - The Ozzman Cometh - The second of three Ozzy songs on the list, "Mama" is Ozzy's best ballad and really one of the best metal ballads of all-time as well.

#694 - "Waiting" - Green Day - Warning - The third of nine Green Day songs on the top 1000, "Waiting" wasn't one of their big hits, but it was the song that led me to believe that they weren't winding down their career but instead had a whole new turn to take, which they would with their next album, American Idiot.

#693 - "Aerials" - System Of A Down - Toxicity - The second of four SOAD songs on the list, "Aerials" is as close as the band will ever come to a ballad, and it was one of their biggest hits.

#692 - "New York, New York" - Ryan Adams - Gold - The first and only Ryan Adams song on the list, "New York" came out shortly after 9/11, though it was recorded well before. Whether this was a coincidence or something much more sinister remains to be determined, but the bottom line is that the coincidence set the artist on a course where quality met success, rare enough in this century of music.

#691 - "Taking Back Control" - Sparta - Threes - The second of three Sparta songs on the countdown, "Taking Back Control" is the first single off of the band's most recent album and it signals that the band is moving towards more mainstream success without sacrificing the quality of their product.